This paper analyses and provides a historical overview of gender relations in American society from the creation of the United States to the present. Gender relations were economically and socially conditioned and influenced by major events, such as the Industrial Revolution, World War II, and major women’s movements – the Women’s Suffrage and Women’s Liberation Movement. During and after the Industrial Revolution, for many men the work place moved from home to the urban centres, thus separating the public from the private sphere. Subsequently, the roles of husbands and wives, who in Pre-Industrial society worked together and had equal roles in their household, became more separate and unequal than ever; men became the sole breadwinners, and women were bound to the house, fulfilling the role of mother and housewife. Furthermore, the American society made an immense step towards gender equality under the influence of the Women’s Suffrage movement. However, changes achieved through women’s suffrage only concerned women’s political rights and had a limited impact on gender relations at home and work. It was World War II and the 1960s Women’s Liberation Movement that brought about a profound shift in gender relations and became major catalysts for women’s acceptance into labour force. Nevertheless, gender inequality and the division of labour into separate spheres, that furthers the male role of the breadwinner and the female role of mother and housewife, still exists in present-day American society, as is confirmed by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s essay “We Should All Be Feminist” (2014) and John Cheever’s postmodern short stories “The Fourth Alarm” (1978) and “The Enormous Radio” (1978).